“With This I Trust” • Zos Chanukah with the Gaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland

The Lighting of Zos Chanukah ○ Yom Kippur Piyyutim on the Night of the Final Seal ○ A Fiery Lesson on the Greatness of Zos Chanukah

Last night, after Rabbi Berland shlit"a distributed Chanukah money, thousands of Anash arrived for the Zos Chanukah lighting by The Rav shlit"a. The courtyard was filled to capacity, and they merited to witness the Rav’s lighting and the songs of the lighting—sparks of holy fire. After the lighting, The Rav shlit"a prayed Ma’ariv, delivered a lesson on the greatness of the day, and then began singing and dancing for more than a full hour, with tremendous joy and powerful vitality.

As is the custom of Anash on Zos Chanukah to sing the melodies of Yom Kippur, so too Rabbi Berland shlit"a has the practice, on the night of the final seal, to sit with his family and gather together to recite the Yom Kippur piyyutim on the holy night of Zos Chanukah.

This year as well, his extended family, may they be well, gathered for the lighting in his holy residence. After the Chanukah zemiros concluded inside the holy inner room, The Rav shlit"a sat down for the Zos Chanukah night meal and began speaking words of holiness about the greatness of this day, Zos Chanukah. He also spoke about matters of Chanukah in halachah and aggadah. After several minutes of teaching, the Rav’s grandchildren began reciting the piyyutim and passages customarily said on Zos Chanukah night from the Yom Kippur prayers, with awakening and enthusiasm. For more than an hour and a half they sang the Yom Kippur piyyutim according to the Breslov nusach, while The Rav shlit"a from time to time himself served as the chazzan.

As is customary, some of the piyyutim are taken from the night of Yom Kippur, and some are piyyutim taken from the morning. Between the piyyutim of the night and the piyyutim of the day, The Rav shlit"a began delivering an additional lesson that lasted about twenty-six minutes (corresponding to the numerical value of the Name Havayah). The Rav opened by saying that Zos Chanukah is the fifth seal, and it is literally like Yom Kippur itself. He then spoke about Eliezer’s mission to Charan, the questions he had regarding the match, and what the Imrei Noam brings on this matter. He also discussed the story of Rav Acha bar Yaakov, who subdued the seven-headed serpent, as brought in Kiddushin 29b.

As in every lesson in recent times, The Rav also addressed the matter of Shimon and Levi, who freed Dinah, and the Ramban’s question: why did Yaakov curse them if they rescued his daughter? He then spoke about the holiness of a person—that if the father is like a rock and the mother is like hills, “For from the top of rocks I see him, and from hills I behold him,” then the child will merit to emerge truly righteous and holy. He mentioned the Nasi of Zos Chanukah—Gamliel ben Pedahzur—who came from “Tzur,” without any lust. He concluded the lesson by saying that the Geulah will begin from the tribe of Menasheh, because they gave over their lives to bury Shaul’s body in Beit She’an. After this, The Rav shlit"a continued with the piyyutim.

One could feel the trembling awe of the holy day within the inner sanctum. After more than an hour, The Rav shlit"a concluded with the melody, “Next year in Jerusalem…,” while, in the midst of it, The Rav shlit"a distributed Chanukah money to his family.